H

high school (n.), high-school (adj.)

Students who took at least two years of foreign language in high school take our placement test.
To receive credit for high-school courses, contact our office before the deadline.

his or her
As a phrase, interrupts sentence flow. Try to replace with their or the or something more suitable. For example:

Awkward: The quality of a student’s work is a result of his or her commitment.
Better: The quality of students’ work is a result of their commitment.

homecoming
Capitalize only when the year immediately follows.

Join us on the Quad for Homecoming 1996.
The homecoming bonfire will be on the Quad.

home page

honor societies, honoraries
Never honorary society—use either honor society or honorary.

Below is a list of honor societies, with each society's academic or other affiliation (where known). Some are unique to Samford University, but many have national or international chapters. Consult the appropriate academic department for more information.

Alpha Kappa Psi, business
Beta Beta Beta, biological sciences
Kappa Delta Pi, education
Kappa Omicron Nu, family and consumer education
Phi Alpha Theta, history and political science
Pi Delta Phi, French
Pi Gamma Mu, history and political science
Psi Chi, psychology
Sigma Delta Pi, Spanish language, Hispanic literature or civilization
Sigma Tau Delta, English
Rho Chi Pharmaceutical Honor Society

See also organizations, student.

hyphens
There are two acceptable uses of hyphens:

1. In hyphenation, to break words at the ends of lines of copy. Limit hyphenation as much as possible—turn it off, if you can. If you must use it, follow the guidelines below.

Don't break a hyphenated compound in the middle of either of its component words. If the compound must be broken, break it after the hyphen.
Avoid line breaks that leave only one or two letters at the beginning or end of a line.
Avoid having more than three lines in a row end in hyphens.
Avoid breaking personal names, proper nouns, phone or fax numbers, E-mail or WWW addresses, and elements of street and mailing addresses. If you must break a Web or E-mail address, break it before a punctuation mark, so your readers won't miss it.

2. In hyphenated compounds, such as on-screen. Following are some general guidelines for the use of hyphens in compounds. When in doubt, consult a current dictionary.

Don't use a hyphen after words ending in -ly.
Compounds with century are hyphenated when they work as modifiers:
ninth-century art, 11th-century religion

Hyphens may usually be omitted after these prefixes:
ante-
anti-
bi-
bio-
counter-
extra-
infra-
inter-
intra-
macro-
meta-
micro-
mid-
mini-
multi-
non-
over-
post-
pre-
pro-
pseudo-
re-
semi-
sub-
super-
supra-
trans-
ultra-
un-
under-

Use hyphens with these prefixes, unless a current dictionary indicates otherwise:
best-
better-
co-
cross-
full-
half-
high-
ill-
least-
lesser-
little-
low-
lower-
mid-
middle-
quasi-
self-
upper-

Use hyphens with temporary compounds, such as those invented by the writer: quasi-realistic, post-homecoming. A compound is permanent when it can be found in a current dictionary or style manual.

Consult a current dictionary or style manual to determine whether to close or hyphenate common compounds, such as lifelong (closed) or life-sized (hyphenated).

Use hyphens to prevent misreadings—to link two or more words so they won't be misread as linked to or modifying other words.

Unclear: high school teacher, finite element equation
Better: high-school teacher, finite-element equation

Use a hyphen for extra clarity when the last letter of the prefix and the first letter of the word are the same (as in non-native), or when confusion might arise if the term is written as one word:

post-master's/postmaster's
re-sent/resent
re-signed/resigned

Use a hyphen when the second element begins with a capital letter or a numeral:

anti-Reagan
non-University
post-’80s
pre-1492

Compounds with -like and -wide are usually closed, except for words of three or more syllables, proper nouns or other forms in which a closed compound would likely be confusing (such as words ending with -l):

Poe-like
swanlike
college wide
University-wide

Use the en dash ( – ) instead of the hyphen when creating a compound in which (a) one or more of the terms consists of two words or (b) both terms are hyphenated compounds:

San Francisco–New York flight
New York–Boston train
non-University–post-homecoming celebration

But use only hyphens in other instances:

non-English-speaking students
outboard-motor-powered craft
mental-health-care facility